While some might suggest a kumbaya, can’t we all just get along attitude is the most ideal, others in the industry feel that a good ole’ knock-down, drag-out is exactly what keeps the industry thriving!
In a recent interview, Sony Exec Shuhei Yoshida stated that, “Competition really pushes everyone, Microsoft and us, to do better. I think in the end the consumers will win.” While this may seem counter intuitive to some business analysts (whom only see the bottom line printed on their quarterly sales charts), Yoshida goes on to state that forcing rival companies like Microsoft and Nintendo out of the business isn’t what’s best in the long run.
While most would likely agree that competition pushes companies to continually improve their products, I’m not sure you can consider the opening round of the next-gen war much of a fight up ‘till now. With Microsoft lagging behind (and Nintendo not even appearing in their rear view at this point), Sony has reigned fairly unopposed. In regards to Microsoft’s recent price drop (which will help the One compete more directly with the PS4), Yoshida states that, “Some media people totally believed they should have done it earlier…Personally, I was expecting that at some point in the future they’d unbundle Kinect, but I wasn’t expecting it this early. My interpretation was the management change had really helped them to reset and re-sync everything. And since then they’ve been consistent.”
It’s important to note that one key management change Yoshida is referring to is Phil Spencer taking over as head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, thus becoming the new face of the next-gen console since March.